The observation that the Trump era is a good time to be a historian is by now cliché. The routine yet outlandish lies that increasingly puncture public discourse; the proliferation of "fake news" and the appropriation by its makers of the label "fake news"; the appeal to "alternative facts" and the self-fulfilling prophecy of "post-truth" … Continue reading Crackpot Historicism
Month: August 2017
The Rule of the 20th Century (The Shape of Academic History, Part II)
My last post looked at the geographical focus of academic historians in Canada, and found that it was predominantly Canadian and European. This was not too surprising, though it does make media laments about the neglect of Canadian and "Western" history by the academy seem uninformed if not simply dishonest. But what motivated me to … Continue reading The Rule of the 20th Century (The Shape of Academic History, Part II)
The Shape of Academic History, Part I: Geography
I used to open my introductory course on pre-modern European history (c.400-1789) with an image that I have come to think of as "History Goes Boom." It's evidently from the cover of a History Book Club magazine or catalogue, though when or where it was issued is more than I've been able to figure out … Continue reading The Shape of Academic History, Part I: Geography
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